Jaspeb johnson



J. JOHNSON.

Visev No. 13,681. Patented Oct. 16, I855.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JASPER JOHNSON, OF GENESEO, NEW YORK.

VISE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,681, dated October 16, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JASPER JoHNsoN, of Geneseo, in the county of Livingston and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vises; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vise. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 00 m of Fig. 2 showing act-ion of pawl. Fig. 4 is a section on y 3 Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating the action of lever head.

Similar characters of reference in the several figures denote the same part of the vise.

The nature of my invention consists in so constructing parallel vises that their jaws shall be tightened by pressure upon a simple lever, without the agency of screw power in any form; a gathering pawl which constitutes one arm of said lever, acting upon a rack bar attached to the movable jaw, in a manner hereafter to be described, to tighten the vise; the lever being held in any given position, by means of a sliding rack, so connected with a rocking head at the extremity of said lever, as to be susceptible of a lateral motion of sutficient degree to engage or disengage the securing stud atthe will of the operator, in a manner hereafter to be specified. In the drawing the several parts as thus representedA stationary jaw of vise. B movable jaw-these jaws are connected by bolts a and b with the cross levers C and D, so that jaw B always moves parallel to the jaw A by reason of the rise in the grooves 0 of the lower extremities of said cross levers. E rack bar, secured to jaw B, and passing through stationary jaw A, as shown in Fig. 3. The opening through jaw A may be such as to permit in the rack bar a lateral motion sufficient to allow the holding between the jaws of an article whose opposite faces held by said jaws incline toward each other. F leversecured to one extremity of the shaft f, which is held by the lugs L, connected with jaw A by bolts 6. Upon this shaft f is a pawl 2', capable of engaging rack bar E under certain circumstances; said pawl constituting the short arm of the operating lever. H rocking head resting upon the lever F, as shown in Fig. 4, and having the sliding rack it, connected with it by the strap 9 as shown in same figure, causing a pressure on one side of the head H to produce a side motion of said rack 72, in a direction from the side of head pressed. This rack it passes through a slot in stud m of stationary jaw, and engages the inner edge of the slot when forced toward it. The lower extremity of the rack h has a spring 71., which when drawn into the slot of stud m, will preserve the lever F in an elevated position and lift the pawl 6 clear of rack bar E.

The operation of this vise is as follows: Before inserting the article X between the jaws, the lever F is sufficiently elevated to cause the spring a to enter the slot of stud m. The eflect of this being as before stated to lift pawl i into recess 9 and leave the rack bar E free to move. The jaw B is then drawn out, and X inserted in opening between the jaws; the jaw B at the same time closing by its weight, the cross lever maintaining it in a position parallel with A throughout its length. The hand of the operator is then placed upon the head H, causing it to drop and the pawl 11 to engage the rack bar E. A slight pressure on the said head causes the pawl i to draw powerfully on the rack bar, and compress X between the jaws. The side 1 of the head is then pressed with greater force than is bestowed on side 2, which forcing rack h against the edge of its slot causes one of its teeth to engage the stud and the operation is complete, the several parts of the vise then having the positions shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. To release X the reverse action takes placeside 2 of H is pressed upon, moving the rack h outward and disengaging its tooth fro-m the standard. The lever F is then raised until spring a engages the slot of stud m, when the jaw B is free to move outward as was first described.

The lever F may be carried to the lower portion of the vise so as to be operated by the foot, a spring being employed to carry it up when the vise is to be opened. The lugs Z are movable about the bolts 6, the weight of the shaft and lever always keeping them in position. This construction by rendering the fulcrum movable gives the system when in operation the effect of the toggle joint, and also insures the taking of the pawl into some tooth of the rack for holding an article of any desired size.

I do not design to restrict the operating mechanism herein described, to use upon parallel Vises only, but claim the right to apply said mechanism to any other construction where it can be used With substantially the same results as herein set forth.

I disclaim the construction of Vises Where a distinct adjustment is requisite for grasping the article previous to the tightening of the jaws by lever power, as in the patented vise of Gone, and the rejected vise of Pardee, such constituting no part of my invention. But

nesses.

JASPER JOHNSON. Witnesses:

JOHN S. HoLLINGsHEAD, E. H. HALL. 

